Patented Smirk
by speckledgit
Summary: Hermione is injured by one of the twins' pranks. She learns something new about Draco and that it's rude to steal a patented facial expression.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione may be a Granger, but right now you could've mistaken her temper for a Weasley's. It was a good thing that all of the students of Hogwarts were busy enjoying the sunshine outside. Hermione, normally the level-headed, book worm type, was now stomping down a fourth floor corridor and shouting like a mad woman to no one in particular.

"Stupid, bloody, ginger gits. I swear to Godric, who in their right mind charms a fanged frisbee to fly about the castle endlessly? Oh! That's right, the Weasley Twins would," Hermione's boisterous shouting echoed off the walls of the corridor, disturbing quite a few portraits. Even Peeves flew in the opposite direction when he saw her, "They're lucky it didn't behead one of them, on second thought, they're very unlucky. Now I'm here, not in the library where I should be, limping to the hospital wing, because, the damned thing gashed my leg. When I get done with them, they'll be missing more than their heads. Molly has plenty of other children to produce grandchildren for her."

Hermione pushed the large, wooden doors that lead to the hospital wing open. She was expecting to see a bright and cheery Madame Pomfrey, but was met with an empty room instead.

"Madame Pomfrey? Are you here, Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione's confident voice filled the room.

Hermione's mary janes clicked on the hard floor as she crossed from the door way to the back corner where Madame Pomfrey usually sat and filled out paperwork. She decided to wait on one of the examination counter till someone arrived; not a very logical decision, but we'll just blame it on the loss of blood.

_I knew I should have spent more time on the "Cuts, Abrasions, and How to Fix Them!" book I skimmed through a couple of weeks ago. That's the last time I let Ronald convince me that our youth is for adventures outside a libr-_

Hermione's thoughts were interrupted as she heard someone enter the room. She had expected it to be Madame Pomfrey; she was surprised, to say the least. It wasn't the long-time school nurse that had walked in, but Draco Malfoy instead. He hadn't even looked up from the book that he nearly had his nose buried in.

"I'll be with you in a second," his said distractedly.

_There's no way he knows who he's talking to, he wouldn't be acting so kind. Why is he even in the infirmary any way?_

She cleared her throat. He promptly set his book down and frowned at her impatience. He turned around and looked her straight in the eye. His expression didn't change; it was as if he didn't know that it was Hermione "Mudblood" Granger sitting on the counter in front of him.

Hermione was incredibly confused to say the least. She didn't know why he was in the hospital wing to begin with and she didn't know why he wasn't acting dismal as usual.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned. The tone of her voice was laced with skepticism.

"I'm trying to infiltrate Hogwarts. I've decided the best way to do so is to take over the hospital wing first," he answered in a blasé tone. His usually impassive eyes now lit up with mirth.

Hermione didn't find his answer amusing, in fact, she was speechless. Malfoy was joking? She didn't know that Malfoys possessed the ability to joke, or any abilities other than smirking and looking like ferrets, really.

Her silence didn't deter him from moving the conversation right along.

"What do you think I'm doing here? It's a hospital. I'm obviously doing something of medical importance. Really, Granger, I thought you were smarter than that," he chided her.

"Well, excuse me! I was trying to think of an explanation as to why a bouncing ferret would be working in an infirmary, wait; did you just give me a compliment?" She shot back, questioning his sanity.

She could see him mentally constructing a comeback. His cold, calculating eyes swept over her tiny form, but they lightened as he noticed the gash on her leg. She had gotten so caught up that she had forgotten as well.

"Weasley's charmed fanged flyers?" His question was spot on, but his tone was absolutely mystifying. Was it…..concern?

Hermione temporarily forgot about his compliment and nodded, "Yeah, where's Madame Pomfrey?"

"She had an unfortunate accident while testing a Draught of Living Death potion and had to retire to her chambers. I guess you're stuck with me, lucky you."

She continued to stare at Malfoy as if he had suddenly grown a second head. She was racking her brain for a reason as to why Draco "Slytherin Asshole" Malfoy was being civil and…..flirtatious? Draco Malfoy, however, just chuckled at his confusing effect on the book-wormish Gryffindor. He picked up a few jars off of the shelf and stood in front of the counter where Hermione was currently perched. Hermione's sanity nearly shattered when he tried to touch her knee.

"What the hell are you doing? You dumb rodent," she screamed at him as she smacked his chest; not that it did much good considering the size difference between the two of them.

"You going to have to spread your legs a bit," he practically purred the words. Hermione on the other hand looked absolutely scandalized, Draco just smirked, "I can't get a good look at that wound if you keep your legs crossed!"

Hermione looked at him suspiciously, but realized he had a point. She looked down at the cut on the inside of her right thigh. She looked at Draco; his silver eyes seemed to be laughing at her. She uncrossed her legs, pushing her skirt down as far as she could. His warm hands grasped her leg just above her knee. She shuddered at his touch, his fingers calloused from quidditch.

_With hands like those, one could almost forget that he was a rat face ferret. _

He must have noticed the dreamy expression that had come across her face; he chuckled and shot her a smug look. She hissed as he applied the salve; Draco smirked and she could have sworn he mumbled "big baby" under his breath.

"You know, you're pretty lucky, any higher and you would've been in trouble," he spoke as his hand moved up her thigh. Hermione was less that amused, but she seemed to have found her Gryffindor spirit, "Yeah, well, any higher and you're going to be in trouble," she gave a pointed look at his hand that was inching up her thigh. The message was clear 'I will chop your hands off and anything else you hold dear.'

He just grinned and mumbled a few words. The blood was washed up and the wound closed instantly. Hermione would have been impressed with his wand less magic, but she was too busy noticing how his lips moved.

_They're so nice. No, what am I thinking. I'm fraternizing with the enemy, Oh Godric, I sound like Ron._

"Hello, Earth to Granger," his words snapped her out of her daydream.

He laughed at her, again, and she smacked him, again.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to have to tie you down. Oh, on second thought, you'd probably prefer that," he didn't even wait for her to react before he started rubbing another salve on her bruised leg.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject.

"Why are you here?" She asked impatiently and for the second time today..

"Well, you see, my Mum and Dad," he began in his usual drawl.

"No, I mean here in the hospital wing?" She expanded as a blush spread across her face.

"Well, I like medical science, if you must know,"

She was struck speechless by his honesty and sincerity. He started to put the salves away; he had never looked so human before. It was silent for a moment.

"So, you want to be a healer?"

"Yeah, someday," his answer was short, but she knew just how important it was. It meant not going into the "family business", HIS business. He could practically hear the questions that Hermione was dying to ask.

"What about…," she couldn't quite finish the question.

"My father? I'm sure he's heard all about it by now," he spoke as if his father was a stranger, having no part in his life.

He had probably sense the questions that were whizzing about her brain, because, he explained further, "I've asked for protective custody for my mother and myself from the Order of the Phoenix. Oh, don't pretend like you don't know who they are. Feigned stupidity suits you about as well as those beaver teeth you had in 3rd year."

She chewed this over for a moment. She noted that when he wasn't being a brooding little brat he was pleasant. He had even grown out of his pointy features and was, in fact, handsome. She even bypassed the mention of those horrible teeth.

"How…brave of you," was about all Hermione could manage to articulate.

"Don't try to squish me into you're ridiculous Gryffindor standards. What I did was for pure self preservation, nothing else. That's a Slytherin trait if you recall."

"Well, it must have been more than a Slytherin trait. You saved your mum too. You have to admit that most of the people in Slytherin would hand their mums over in an instant if it meant they got to live.

Draco didn't particularly like her correcting him, but he didn't move to patronize her. He soon regretted it, as she just had to push it a little bit further.

"Ah ha, I knew it. You are brave and reckless. If you didn't already know, those are Gryffindor traits," she teased.

"I would hate to have to kill you, Granger, after all the time I've just spent helping you," his eyes narrowed, but she just smirked in satisfaction, "Oh Salazar, you're smirking. I'm never showing compassion again. You can't just steal a man's patented facial expressions."

Hermione didn't even blink an eye at his little rant, "You've patented your smirk?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.

Draco was not amused, not amused at all, "I'm beginning to think you're more troublesome than you're worth," He made to exit the room.

"Where are you going?" She must have sounded pathetic, she thought to herself.

"To study, I'm not going to become a healer sitting around here and letting you use my own smirk against me," he sneered over his shoulder.

"Could I…Could I join you?" She had never been so scared of asking questions. She had no problem with being the first and sometimes only student to raise her hand in class, but this simple question gave her butterflies.

He thought for a few seconds and smirked, not a demeaning smirk, but a smug one.

"The library is public domain, you can do want you want. But, stop smirking, that's my gig."

He continued towards the door as she slid off of the counter and followed en suit. The pure and simple fact was that Draco Malfoy had changed. Never in a million years did Hermione Granger think that she would be sitting across a table studying with him. No one was complaining, but that was most likely due to the fact that Ron and Harry didn't know what was happening yet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all of you who read "Patented Smirk". You can thank yourselves for my extending it beyond a one-shot. I really never thought anyone would like it, but it got 500 hits in a few hours and 11 favorites. Thank you, the reviews were very lovely. I will continue it, but I will make no official deadlines. This story was something I jotted down while I was waiting for my Nyquil to kick in when I was sick. So, I'll have to find another stroke of inspirations. Once again, thank you all. **

**Reviews:**

Siriusblaqqq

Bunneh018

Cledism is my religion

Phoenix feathers85

The Public Address System

nature love 95

**People who added to their favorites:**

froggi101

LunaDrake

I'm Done Believing

...GJ4EVA

nature love 95

tiger-lily9240

Cledism is my religion

Bunneh018

InsaneChickGoneMad

Siriusblaqqq

MissSparks


	3. Chapter 3

"Draco, stop!"

"Stop what, exactly?"

Hermione shot a disgruntled look at a very smug Draco Malfoy, who happened to be sitting across the library table.

"Stop glaring at every person who looks this way, they're not doing anything wrong" she said with an austere tone.

She actually had no basis for the argument. See, if you were to walk into the Hogwarts Library today, or any day of the last several weeks, you would have been staring at the odd couple too. Thus, receiving a well deserved glare for your rudeness.

The theories had become quite monstrous. Lavender Brown openly voiced her opinion that it was good for Hermione to finally, "Get some," as she so elegantly put it.

"Ah, little Mia, you have mistaken my sneer for a common and less effective glare," he chided.

She didn't know what to argue first: the nick-name or his smugness.

"Again with the facial expressions. Enlighten me, what is the difference between a glare and a sneer?" She went for the smugness; she'd nearly given up on his 'pet names' for her.

"It's quite simple, I'm sure even someone with such untrained social skills, such as you, will understand. A glare is a very pointed look with a hint of anger, but not too much anger as to be confused with unbridled rage. A sneer is all that a glare is, but with more use of the nose," he drawled.

"Well, you would know ALL about pointy looks, wouldn't you?"

She knew it was a half hearted comeback about his chin; but really, he seemed to have a soap box rant for every subject.

"Oh, I think we both know just how well I've grown in to my features," Draco smirked as he rubbed his chin, which admittedly was now more manly and square-ish than feminine and pointy.

"Be serious for one moment, you insufferable prat. Why do you even have opinions and commentary for facial expressions?"

"A lot can be said with a look; you can come to an understanding with a look, you can work together with a look, you can even fall in love with a look," he barely glimpsed up from his charms book.

Hermione had long forgotten her potions scroll.

It had been like this since the day in the infirmary. They would flirt, banter, and study. She tried to push feelings aside, but what do you do when a very handsome man flirts with you. Ronald certainly never flirted, although, she really should stop comparing.

She simply had to stop thinking about it.

Upon finding out about Hermione's new friendship with the Slytherin, Harry and Ron had acted...Well, like Harry and Ron, even Ginny was nervous.

At first they had started with blaming Draco for tricking Hermione, and then once Hermione had explained the Order business, they blamed Hermione, next they resorted to trying to convince her that she was wrong, and currently they were giving her the silent treatment.

Slytherins had stayed at bay, if not just a bit curious as to what had happened to Draco Malfoy. No one would take a romance between Hermione and Draco well... So, for now it was just...flirting.

At least Harry and the Weasley's had quidditch to distract them.  
That was the second most curious thing about Draco (the first being his desire to be a healer.) Draco had resigned his spot on the Slytherin House team.

He even admitted to her once while she was studying while he worked in the hospital wing, that he never truly enjoyed quidditch, he liked the competition, but his father made him do it and it sucked all of the fun right out of it.

"Have you finally gotten bored of reading all of the library books twice," she hadn't even noticed that he'd looked up from his book. She was quite sure that he was smirking at the fact that she'd been studying him instead.

"I have not read all of them twice," she humphed.

"Sure, sure...If you'd like, I'll let you peruse my private collection."

She assessed the possibility that he was using a euphemism. He did like to read; if you add that to the fact that he's rich and has a private room, it was very probable that he had a private library.

"Yes," she said bluntly.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, please," she rolled her eyes at his sudden plight for manners, prat.

"Good, you can read while I get changed for my shift," he said as he collected his things, hinting that she should follow suit.

She followed mutely behind him. The liveliness of the upper floors died down as they approached the dungeons, where she knew the Slytherin dorms were.

They came to a blank bit of wall. He brought his hand up and gave it a bit of a pat, the wall melted away and they walked through the passage way.

_It's nothing like the Gryffindor common room_

The room was a bit larger and circular. It had several more passage ways, but they took the one directly to their left. They walk in silence, probably because neither of them want to be caught going to his room...alone.

He came to a painting of a dragon; it cast a lazy glance at Draco and swung open.

They stepped through, well actually Draco stepped through; Hermione stood in the doorway, stunned.

All she could see was a bed, his bed, a very large, comfy looking bed. She didn't have long to freak out though, "You know, I'm not going to strap you to it and have my wicked way," he said, "Unless you really want me to."

He grinned at her and she stepped through the door.

There were so many of them, books in all shapes and sizes, every subject she could imagine. Two whole walls were made of bookshelves, built around a fireplace on the second, and then taking up half of a third wall.

"You can read any one you pick up, I've made sure all of the darkest charms have been removed," Draco informed her, before escaping for a shower.

Hermione walked along the bookshelf, she hadn't been this in awe since the first time that she had seen the Hogwarts library.

"Ah, I see that I finally get to meet my grandson's favorite muse," a deep voice pulled her attention to a painting that hung on the mantle. She hardly even noticed the muse comment, she was used to hearing jabs about how close she and Draco had become from Blaise and Theodore, decidedly two of the more agreeable Slytherins.

The man in the painting was a Malfoy, obviously, but not the Malfoy she's been expecting. He was older, older than Lucius.

"Who are you?" She questioned, wincing at how brass her voice sounded compared to the man's seem-less tones.

"I'm Abraxas, Draco's grandfather," he sounded pleasant.

"You don't seem-" she cut off, suddenly remembering her manners.

"Like a bigoted old man? I've lived along time. I've made many mistakes and learned from most of them. Draco tells me that you're the brightest witch of you age."

"He exaggerates," she said modestly.

"I think you see yourself in too dim a light. Even Severus has informed me of you academic talents, last time came to visit me here in France" he continued.

Now that was hard to believe, her stingy Potions Professor, complimenting her?

She turned her attention back to the shelves. A thought popping into her mind, but she didn't say anything.

"You may ask the questions you want," the man's portrait encouraged.

It seemed like a very rude question, but she did have permission, "How does Draco still have private chambers since, well, you know..." she winced once more at the catches and flaws in her speaking voice.

"Because of his mother's estates and mine, he is my favorite grandson," he answered

"Oh," she averted her gaze.

"Why the disapproving look?"

"I just thought he'd really changed, but he's still selfish. He didn't even have to give much up," she no longer cared how rude she sounded.

"Draco risked himself dying to save himself and his mother, that's about as unselfish as a Slytherin gets. I know it won't compare to what a Gryffindor considers bravery, but I find him quite courageous for someone so young; especially more than Lucius or even I was at his age. He has given up much, the acceptance from his father for example. It's not easy for a young man to do. You're good for him, I think, someone to encourage him to choose a good path not just an easy one and you challenge him to strive for excellence. He's always telling me how smart you are, don't give up on him," Abraxas' eyes looked at a point beyond Hermione that she knew was Draco.

Hermione turned to greet Draco.

He had khaki trousers on, nothing else…Well, he had the tunic that doubled as a uniform clutched in one hand and a small towel, drying his hair in the other.

Hermione flushed, she didn't handle nudity well, her own or others. She didn't have much time to appreciate it before she noticed the scars. 3 long white lines on the right side of his rib cage, a vertical one on his hip bone, and she hadn't even seen his back yet. He pivoted to chuck the towel into the bin.

No scars on his back, but there was a large tattoo of a black dragon that took up the top right quarter of his back and shoulder.

He pulled the slate colored tunic over his head and left his hair in a perfect, hand-raked state, another recent development, no more gel.

"See something you like," Draco smirked

"No," she shot at him defensively.

"Really?" He questioned, "Because, I would think in a brand new library, that you've never seen before, something would have tickled you fancy."

His smirk turned into a full blown grin. He saw his grandfather's portrait.

"Ah, I see that you were occupied with other things," he paled slightly as he spoke.

"Alright, well I'm going to be late, Madam Pomfrey gets cross when that happens. I would let you stay but Theo and Blaise are practicing quidditch and not everyone is as understanding."

"Oh, Goodbye, Abraxas," Hermione waved

"Goodbye to you, Hermione," Abraxas countered

"You can't do this Hermione, we're you're friends," the silent treatment had ended.

"My friends? Ronald, you can't be serious? Draco is my friend too,"

Hermione faced Ron, Harry, and even Ginny. They were arguing, well, Ron and Hermione were arguing. Draco was tending to Blaise who had taken a fall off of his broom. He looked unnervingly calm.

"He doesn't have friends," Ron's brow furrowed.

"He has me, which is a lot more than you can say at the moment," she sneered.

"Oh, Godric, now you're starting to act like him. Since when do you glare at people?"

"I didn't glare, it was a sneer," she finished.

The Ron just stormed out with Harry and Ginny close behind.

Hermione stomped over to Draco and Blaise, both trying to hide their amusement.

"Hmmm, maybe we should work on looking smug next," Draco said with a gleam in his eye.

"Honestly, Draco," she chastised out of habit.

"Before you know you'll have worked you're way through the book of Malfoy Facial Characteristics," Blaise added.

Hermione gave Draco a curious look, "Do you really have a book on facial expressions?"

Both Slytherins chuckled, but neither negated the question

_Bloody Slytherins._

This is a non HBP compliant fic.


End file.
